Barriers to Hi-Fi

[BigAlMc]

57 minutes ago, firedog said:

Kenwood amp, and Pioneer turntable I had in high-school and college

 

Ah you're making me nostalgic Firedog! My system when I was in college featured a Kenwood AVR - a 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound receiver, selected for its reported 'musicality' for around £100 at Richer Sounds.

Richer Sounds for the non-UK based was an at the time innovative hifi retailer that specialised in stack em high, sell em low. Man I freaking loved Richer Sounds! 

I loved that system too. The Kenwood was paired with a highly regarded but cheapass Technics CD player. Entry level Mission speakers. And later a Technics Minidisc player 

 

No vinyl. I sold my 1210s and my vinyl when I was 18 and never returned. So I guess looking back I was a digital audiophile even before the prospect of putting the music on a computer really arose. 

 

Anyway the point of this rambling reply is that I am routinely in the minority. My mates and colleagues without exception think I am somewhere between quirky and outright mental to spend my time and money on HiFi. And I never mention or even allude to how much I have spent as that would invite even further derision. 

 

My good mates thought I was crazy for spending money on a power conditioner for "clean electricity". I still get the occasional jibe about that! 

My colleagues thought I was stupid when I mentioned having my music on a server! The prevailing opinion was why bother when your phone can do that. 

 

And you know what, they are not wrong. Well not entirely. 

 

We are in the minority. Convenience, ubiquity and lifestyle rules. MP3, the Ipod and IPhone have effectively ruined audio quality for the mass market and that damage has yet to be undone. 

 

Firedog - I thought your post was very thoughtful and raises an excellent point about headphones and people apparently spending more and more on decent cans. Look at the Beats deal making Dr Dre a billionaire. 

 

Dr Dre the saviour of audio quality. I didn't foresee that when I was whiling away hour after hour in Richer Sounds back in the day! 

 

Cheers, 

Alan 

[BigAlMc]

8 minutes ago, firedog said:

Well Beats used to suck SQ wise; but apparently even they felt the market demand and have a couple of models that are good sounding. Maybe not as good as some "audiophile" models, but perfectly good and nothing to deride.

 

Yeah Beats is an interesting case. My girlfriend who has all her music in MP3 on her IPhone and uses ITunes (3 cardinal sins in my book!!) insisted on Beats headphones despite my offering to recommend better sounding cans for the same price. So there is definitely a fashion / trendy element to the success of Beats. But nonetheless it's an encouraging trend as it gets people thinking about sound quality. 

[BigAlMc]

I think this thread is getting tied up in an argument about money/value and missing the bigger point. It's not that everyone cannot afford to buy decent audio gear. It's lack of interest, pure and simple. The majority of my mates like music. They just don't care whether they are listening to it on an old crappy stereo, streamed through thier tv's terrible speakers (shudder) or on a phone connected to a basic bluetooth speaker.

 

Ours is a niche hobby. That's it. Educating the masses that they could buy a relatively cheap system with terrific sound quality would not make one iota of difference because they simply don't care.